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"Are ye to go out again, then, ye stubborn boy? " Bradwarden asked before the dawn of the second day of their forced halt Elbryan had awakened a short time before and, after a check on Tiel&039;- more co er replied "The sword dance is where I find hts in preparation for the trials of the day"

"More likely that ye&039;ll find a trial at the damned dance, if the Bishop&039;s anywhere about," said the centaur

Elbryan&039;s answer caer stride as he moved out of the camp "You keep a watch over our friends," he called back fro Bradwarden alone with the seven sleeping for beside the s, and ca breath, clearing his thoughts, dis his fears for Tiel&039;marawee, for his other companions, for hihts With all the tuer, attuned to his surroundings He felt the ice-crusted grass beneath his feet, saw the shilazed surface of the pond Despite his concentration, Nightbird couldn&039;t help considering the strangeness of the scene In a norht have found several feet of snow beneath his feet, and the pond would have been white with drifting snow and thick with gray ice instead of thisNow only part of the lake was iced over; the rest, near where the stream exited on the far bank, ree winter, but that, Nightbird pointedly re to ponder at another tiet the blood flowing, for the icy grass was beginning to numb his feet

And so he fell intobi&039;nelle dasada, the movements perfect in harrace and precision, h balanced turns and balanced cuts ofmovement - did not have to, forbi&039;nelle dasada was so familiar to his body, so e move rolling parry, leaps ending in sudden rushes, his legs and feet in the exact position to launch hiround The dance was not the sahtbird&039;s level of mastery, he constantly iht, and to Bishop De&039;Unnero, watching frohtbird had no allies in the ihtened his intrigue This one would be a challenge, the e he could possibly find

"Without any ar out into the open field The Bishop wore only the simple brown robes of his Order, a white rope belt interwoven with strands of gold, and plain soft boots A ring adorned one finger, but he showed no other jewelry, no geer said calmly, not surprised at all, for the forest had told him of the man&039;s presence; in truth, he had co that De&039;Unnero would show up

"Yet I never fight in arht And the ranger, too, slowly took up a circular walk "Not even the leather jerkin worn by Nightbird, nor the heavy boots It hardly see that would stop the thrust of even a goblin&039;s crude spear," Nightbird replied

"So you do not ade?" De&039;Unnero asked, for he wanted there to be no excuses later on For the challenge to be proper, and the vic-tory to be savored, the fight had to be on even terer replied with a wry sotten your weapon"

De&039;Unnero laughed, and as he did, he lifted his ar froer&039;s paw "I carry my weapons closer to the skin, that is all," the Bishop explained He gave a chuckle, not at the expression Nightbird then wore, but because of the ease hich he had enacted the transforemstone in his pouch and not even in his hand! Father Abbot Markwart had shown hireater level of power

"Continue," Nightbird bade him, "all the way, into the form you used when you h and his entourage"

Now De&039;Unnero laughed louder He considered the offer for just a htbird on even terer arm was the equivalent of the beautiful sword the man carried

"You knohy I have come?" he asked

"I know that your Church can invent whatever excuse is convenient," the ranger replied

De&039;Unnero was shaking his head "Not the Church, Nightbird," he ex-plained "I come to you as Marcalo De&039;Unnero, not as Bishop De&039;Unnero Were you to offer your surrender now, Marcalo De&039;Unnero would not want it, though Bishop De&039;Unnero would have no choice but to accept it"

The ranger cocked his head, not really understanding

"I have cohtbird," the hed, catching onto the absurdity of it all "This is about pride, then, and not your twisted vision of justice," he reasoned "This is about who is the finer warrior"

"The finest warrior," De&039;Unnero corrected "I have come to settle the issue"

"And then?"

"And then, when I have torn out your heart and eaten it, I will settle with your friends," the Bishop proer would never allow hie "I will kill the centaur first, and then the small, sneaky man And then I will see to the monks Perhaps I will offer thee of heresy, in their foolish hopes of finding hter them, every one, and tear off their heads Those trophies alone would satisfy ; De&039;Unnero did likewise

"Do you have a God that you must pray to?" De&039;Unnero asked

"My dance was er replied "A prayer that God will have mercy on the souls of those I am forced to kill"

With a howl, the Bishop ca inside the long, deadly reach of the ranger&039;s sword

Nightbird knew it, too, and though he was surprised by the agility and speed of the otherthe Bishop to twist aside or impale himself

But, as soon as he passed beside that tip, De&039;Unnero quickly slid low, then leaped high above the stabbing blade, kicking with one foot, con-necting glancingly on the ranger&039;s shoulder

Again they faced off, but without words this time, just the intense stares of the purest and er silently debated whether he should give the deceptively quick man the offensive, or try to back hihtforward attacks The point became ht ahead, then landed with his legs in perfect order to propel hi out of it with that deadly tiger&039;s paiping for the ranger&039;s head

Te the blade about in tiash on the side of the tiger wrist, but taking a deep cut across his own left shoulder The Bishop ignored the pain and continued forward, deer

Nightbird went ahead, dropping Teht the surprised De&039;Unnero on the chin and buckled his knees More for support than to attack, the Bishop wrapped his tiger&039;s paw ar his other arhtbird felt the burning pain just to the side of his spine He knew that if he gave De&039;Unnero any room, the man would tear half his back off So he bore in harder, launching a short, heavy right punch to the man&039;s ribs, then a sudden left hook to the chin that snapped De&039;Unnero&039;s head to the side He felt the pull on his back as the stubborn Bishop started to turn away, so he hooked his right ar to trade bare-fisted blows

Or so he thought Marcalo De&039;Unnero was the finest fighter ever to walk through the doors of St-Mere-Abelle, the man who trained brothers jus-tice, none of whom had ever been htbird had surprised hily pow-erful blows, but now De&039;Unnero went to work, sending a series of short, sharp jabs to the ranger&039;s chin - and to the chin only because Nightbird was s for his throat and that if De&039;Unnero ever connected solidly there, the fight would be over

Even with the successful dodge, the ranger tasted blood He traded another series of hits, then changed tactics, cla with all his strength I desperately instead for the too-powerful arht at its end, saelco that deadly tiger paw in place as the hter, iron cords taut, driving his fingers into the ht the Bishop&039;s head would explode under the pressure

De&039;Unnero grabbed and pulled, but he was no rowled in victory

But then he felt a sudden sharp pain in the center of his wrist, just under his palm, as De&039;Unnero worked the tip of his thuer&039;s aers weak-ened; to his horror, De&039;Unnero wrenched his head away froer&039;s arhtbird&039;s head forward, as De&039;Unnero snapped his head forward; only luck brought the ranger&039;s forehead lower than the Bishop&039;s, the two heads connecting with devastating force Both ered, but De&039;Unnero had taken the brunt of the blow Clearly dazed, the Bishop lifted his knee quickly, ai, accepting the hit on the thigh The er so when De&039;Unnero suddenly launched hi down the short slope right into the cold lake They rested for just an instant on the ice, but then broke through into the icy water

Water churned and reddened about therip and lack of air to continue their fight

Nightbird ca De&039;Unnero to sur-face right beside hier, the twoWhen they spotted their friend, they came ahead fast

"When did yer dance take to the water?" Bradwarden asked, galloping over to help his hurt and dazed friend fro and bleeding, and one look at the lines across his back, a wound so similar in appearance to that of Tiel&039;marawee, told the other that had transpired Out ca an arrow in one fluid h chattering teeth

Roger pulled the cloak from his back and wrapped it about his friend, his expression incredulous "Bishop De&039;Unnero did this to you?" he asked

"Where is the fool?" the centaur asked "Did ye kill hied and turned to scan the lake, not certain

Then they had their answer, as De&039;Unnero&039;s head bobbed out of the water near the center of the lake,under the surface Bradwarden let fly anyway, his arrow ski harmlessly across the surface

"Well, he&039;s havin&039; to co another ettin&039; reat cat, co out of the lake and into the forest in such a rush that Bradwarden didn&039;t even have the chance to let the arrow fly

"At least he is running," said Roger

Elbryan shook his head, not believing that for a h to win out against theer offered

"But the elf&039;s up for no run," Bradwarden reminded, "barely a walk, by me thinkin&039;"

"Whatever course we choose, we are better by far if we are all together," the ranger re quickly The three set off for the ca telepathically instructed the stallion to keep close